Looking Back

Many people on Instagram are doing their Top Nine - the 9 posts that generated the most likes in 2018.

Although the collage of my top 9 is pretty, it doesn't reflect the year we had or life in our little cottage - a friend's shed is #5 and #9 is a garden we passed on a walk.

I decided to look back at my year and choose 1 photo for each month to reflect on 2018.

I chose my 2018 word of the year to represent January because I used the word frequently to explain my madness to Steve in constantly moving furniture around the house.

I chose to use a pic of our bedroom for February because I rarely show it, but also because the table holding the sailboat is part of my "intentional" furniture movement.

This photo in front of our garage door reflects my swing back to blue in 2018, my love of flowers and cycling, although this bicycle is never ridden.

My April pic has me yearning for garden time -we are actually experiencing a cold winter (by Southern California standards) and my garden misses me.

For May I chose a pic of Country Sampler magazine on the table - here is the article about our cottage in the summer 2018 issue.

In June I was so happy to see flowers blooming beneath the windows in Steve's studio - backyard neighbors 2 houses over cut down a 30' tall hedge and now the sun shines throughout our garden. 

In July I did A Fun Collaboration with StickerYou.com - I created iron-on transfers for tote bags to give family members traveling the 26 Miles to Catalina Island for a birthday celebration.

Our house was a chaotic mess in August with our bathroom remodel and despite living elsewhere for 3 weeks, I kept this area neat and tidy while we spent time at home each day.

Painting the fireplace white was on my list for years and I finally just did it.

A major remodel of our only bathroom was totally unexpected, but when Steve gets an idea in his head, he can't let it go - he decided to do it in July, we began in August and everything was finished in early October.

In November I began setting the stage for Christmas decor by organizing our entry cupboard with all white dishes.

Here is that table from the February pic of the bedroom - part of my "intentional" movement of furniture.

Although most of the pics on my Instagram were on my blog, I decided to scroll through the blog to find one favorite for each month - after January and February pics of flowers, I decided to continue the theme.

I really love this pic of the garden

and this one of our beach.

 But, my favorite blog pic looking back at 2018 has to be this shot of Andy, Kendra and Steve at the harbor.

Lulu didn't want to be forgotten.